She was supposed to be Donald Trump ’s opening act. Then she got bumped. Then she got screwed by some tech engineer. And then? Carrie Underwood provided one of the most profound moments of Trump’s 2025 inauguration. After an awkward, long pause—a very long pause—to the start of the music delayed the Grammy winner’s performance of “America the Beautiful,” Underwood was forced to improvise. Seconds of forced smiles, confused looking around, and a palpable “WTF…” face gave way to Underwood gamely saying to the crowd at the Capitol Rotunda, “You know the words. Help me out here.” She then launched an a capella version of “America the Beautiful,” with, in quite stirring fashion, everyone gathered joining in an impromptu singalong. Behind her, Joe Biden , Kamala Harris , and Hillary Clinton could all be seen singing—or at least mouthing the words. And the volume of everyone crooning in the Capitol hints that, at the very least, most attendees joined in, as Underwood prompted. Read more at The Daily Beast.